Air conditioner



J. F. ROE

AIR' CONDITIONER Filed June 8, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.4.

Inventor James F. Roe

May 23, 1950 J. F. ROE 2,508,839

AIR CONDITIONER Filed June 8, 1948 I r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5.

I2 Inventor James 1-. Roe

W FM I Patented May 23, 1950 AIK CONDITIGNER James F;Roe,;Sa.lt Lake CitLjIltah Application Iii n'e B, 1948;1Setia1 N70L3I ,671;21

1'Glaim..- (Cl..26.1.92.)..'

Tins-invention comprises-novel and lusetuli me provementsiir air conditioners and more speeifi; cally pertains t: a: portahlezdevi'ce: for? humidif-i firing a rid circulatiiig aihfofi'conditioning reoms amci 'the like:

The priricipal obi ect' of this invention istoiprovine anmpparatue. for efliciently humidiiyingsand nicis't'niiig air: and for' circulating: the same as dsiredf 92' furtheroll'jct' of 'bhe ifiventibn is toi provide a device as=set forth 'irrtheepreceding obj ect' which shal1The=-of portable corrstrirctionz:easilwservicedt and which" shall 1 comprise as its 1 air" circulating: mediumazaiconventionail itypefiefi electric: fan:

An important feature of the invention resides in the pnovision Ora: deviceincludingaancelectric motor drivemai-r" fan and a humidiiying' wheei whichist aligned? wzzith?- and' rotated by the :stream ofi air from the air'fan ir A iiirther feature: ofitli'e inventiomenvis'ions-the' construction" of a portable -ihumiiiifierias setffortln in tiie preceding-paragraph: iwhereim' the I hnmidiitying wheel is detachably.mbuntedrandi'journah led fer rotatien aboveandror immersion: irrairemovabre iliquid or water taniriwhich shall beret. movablyrhousedi inz theecasiiigrenclosing the air anotherimpcrtairt iifature. of: theinven: ttonrrcomprehenris thie prnvisfon of a1. novels and improved-r.-constructiemofihmrfitlityingwheel; for mererefficientrvr causing: aadtspersienz of rth'ezwater pi'ck'edhup.by theiwheelsfronmtheatankzfor com:. mingiingmzithithezstreamrofiraiirirom zthewairr'fam flhd a iflnatimportantifeatitrecofthecinventiorr to? bei-spfeciii'callyi enumerated: herein ,1 resides in the provisiom oi -f. arr appamatuy wherein: a": plu= mIity-r otdifferent; shaped: hu-mi-di-fyingii wheels. may I readily" employed therewith, wherein; a simplified and: inexpensive: construetioni is pro.- vided for applicatiemtma conventional-electric fainf for adaptingethersame :fonhumidifyingi and embedimentii of tires-invention; and. in: particular theimamitmgz off the electric :fan the 2. humidifying wheel;-. the Fliquid tank properly posh tionedfiwi-tliin the housing oi the device:

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevational-view of a i portion-=01 a preferred -.emb.odi-ment= of humidifymgwwheel which maybe employed with the? in. vention;

Figure-3 is -afi: fragmentary detailed view taken upon amenl'arged scale substantially upon-:the planeeof. the section line-3-3 "of :Figure--3; show-- ing=. the: COHStIE'lIClEiOI'lr of-* the apertured: hamidi-Q lyingrwheel; I

Eig'ure-4--lsafragmentary: elevationa-l view sim-y ilar to- Figure 2 but showinga modified construetion of humidifying wheel; and:

Figurez'5- is a verticaii longitudinal sectionalevrlew throughtheedevice--ot-Figure+1-; the-end screensbeing:removed; andshowingthe relative arrange.: ment of the :parts;

Referring. nowmoreespecificallyto the. accompanyingdrawings, wherein like numeralsindie cate similar parts throughout the various *views; the numeral 2H1 designatesvgenerally-.thepreferred embodiment: of the? invention.- to 1 be hereinafter described: It maybe here stated-that theeprime requisite of I this invention Y is :to providea device which beincorporated with any conventional electric driven tanior "adapting the. same triennply moist rand'liquid conditionedair'for improving; the atmosphere of; roomseand .the-sli-ke. @f course, it will be understood that other liquids as well. as water may be. used with thederice, which i admirably serves: the purpose of impress mating. air with various liquids, and.- circulating the thusmoistened air, the istream. of air from the electric fan serving.both. to more effectively commingle the. liquid. and the. air as. well as. to cause rotation andlhence. operation. of the: moistening meansa.

The portable air conditioner!llincludesra supporting base !2: of. any suitable construction. whether. of: a..-.'so1-i(ii construction- 01: of. t av skeleton or lattice-work.nonstruction as desired: Mount; ed; upon the supportingbase I his. a: housingin dicated.-. generally; by, the numeral. I 4, and... in: cludingside andend-wall-s, which housingis .pro vided with. a. hinged, substantially semiecircular cover or. closure. 1-6,.whiehis hingedlongitudinah l-y-iof .oneofthe walls. oitheideviceas: by a hinge l8. This. cover; apportiononly-oiwhichis. shown in Figure .1, is intended to be secured iniits- .closed position: by means- 015 any conventional type. of. fastener. or lockingdevice-Mz- As-sofandescribed, housingizmayybe: 0t iva-riousrsizes andishapes, but is; preferablyformed. of; lightweight sheet metalw. construction-i in the interest: of lightness armlvinexpensiveness:z v c a fan blade 34 thereon. As will be readily'understood, the size of electric motor and fan blade to be incorporated in the device will be chosen in proportion to the size of the housing, and of the opening 22.

Indicated at 36 is any conventional means for supplying electric current to the motor 82 for operating the fan 34, and if desired the electric motor or the cable may comprise a rheostat for regulating the speed of the fan.

Suitably secured to the base [2 is a transversely extending, angle iron member 38 which constitutes a retaining means for a transversely disposed tray or tank 46,'which is thus removably secured and positioned upon the base l2,any

tions of the liquid as the wheel is rotated, and as the individual vanes are rotated, the liquid thus elevated is distributed by gravity, and by centrifugal force radially along the slots 60 and the flanges 62, whereby the same substantially covers the area of the vanes, and whereby the air stream from the fan 34 flowing through the humidifying wheel willreadily pick up and contact the :moisture carried by the vanes and thereby be moisture laden.

. It should be here noted that preferably the size of the wheel is such that the same is but slightly smaller than the fan 34, whereby the air blast from the latter will thoroughly disperse over the area of the wheel, pass through the interstices thereof and about the periphery thereof,

desired means being provided for releasably an- I Upon the inner side walls of the tank 40, are

secured as by rivets or bolts 42 the lower ends 44 of a pair of vertically disposed supporting standards. These standards preferably consist of strips of metal or the like, and are preferably resilient in their nature. From the lower extremities 44, each standard is provided with an inwardly and upwardly extending portion 45, whose upper ends are provided with parallel portions 48, whose extremities are turned inwardly and outwardly in parallelism to themselves as at 5B and are provided with apertures for detachably receiving therein a shaft 52 constituting an axle which is removably received in a tubular bushing 54 constituting a part of the hub portion 58 of a humidifying wheel.

Since the supporting standards are resilient, the upper ends may be readily but yieldingly pulled away from each other, whereby the axle 52 may be inserted or removed from the bearing apertures in the portions 50, it being understood that the unapertured portions 48 constitute means to maintain the axle in the bearings and consequently, the hub of the wheel in position.

As shown best in Figures 1 and 2, a plurality of radially extending sector-like vanes 58 are integrally or if desired, separately carried by the hub portion 56, and each of these vanes is given a pitch similar to that of a propeller blade, for a purpose which will later become apparent. Each of these sector-like vanes 58 is provided with a plurality of parallel slots 60, which extend in parallelism to the medial radius of each vane. As shown in the detailed view of Figure 3, the parallel slots are formed by bending one edge of each at an angle to the p ane of the vane, to thereby provide parallel flanges 62 extending in parallelism substantially radially of the blade.

The wheel is so mounted upon the supporting standards that the lower vanes thereof are immersed in the liquid provided in the tank 40, whereby the flanges 52 and slots 60 pick up porfor effective and eificient vaporization and humidifying action by the liquid in the tank 40.

The pitch of the vanes 58 is such that the wheel is slowly rotated by the air blast, the slowness of this rotation being attributed to the resistance of the liquid contained in the tank.

Preferably, the axle 52 is axially aligned with the axis of rotation of the fan, as will be readily understood by reference to Figure 5, Of course, in some instances it may be preferred to position the axis of rotation of the wheel at an angle to the axis of rotation of the fan, and further baifie means may be interposed between the same for the purpose of better diffusing the air, and even slowing down the rate of flow of the same, in order to create a more gentle flow through, around and over the aperturesof the wheel.

It should be here noted that by opening the cover IS, the tank may be removed as a unit with its humidifying wheel, in order to service the same, to interchange or remove the Wheel and replace the same with other forms of wheels,as

set forth hereinafter, or for servicing as desired, and similarly, the fan and motor may likewise be removed or replaced.

Alternatively, various other constructions of wheels may be employed. Thus, as shown in Figure 4, the hub portion 64 corresponding to the hub 55, and similarly mounted between the support standards, may be provided with a plurality of sectorial shaped vanes 66, which instead of the slots previously mentioned may consist of a plurality of apertures 68 to thus provide foraminous or reticulated vanes. Otherwise, the construction is identical with that previously set forth; Moreover, it should be further noted that the slots of the vanes need not be parallel, nor straight lines, but could consist of various curves, contours, configurations and dispositionsfor the purposes of more effectively distributing the liquid elevated over the surface of the fan for inter spersing liquid in the air stream.

It is desired to here emphasize-that the underlying principle of this invention resides in the ease and facility for removing, servicing or adjusting the humidifying wheel unit, removing or replacing the tank and the wheel unit, andfor obtaining access to and servicing the fan.- Further, it will be noted that the motor 32 of the fan by means of the strap 30, may be readily adjusted to move the same towards or from the wheel, to thereby further regulate the effectiveness of the driving relation between the fan and the wheel, and for this adjusting the speed of rotation of the wheel from the fixed speed of rotation of the fan. This latter function arises from the fact that neither the fan nor the wheel occupy the entire confines of the cross-sectional area of the housing and that there is consequently some slippage of air both around the periphery of the fan and of the wheel, and inside the housing. By positioning the fan closer to the wheel, a greater proportion of the force of blast of the air fan will be employed to rotate the wheel.

It is especially to be noted that this device is inherently capable of delivering a, cool dry air rather than air of high humidity, since the metal construction of the wheel will effect a condensation of moisture particles preventing a saturation of the air, whereas a moisture supplying element of fabric would not possess this function.

From the foregoing, the manner of constructing and operating the device and its manifold advantages will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

In a portable air conditioner having a base, a housing thereon having screened air inlet and outlet openings, a motor driven fan in said housing; a humidifying device including a water tank within said housing extending transverse said base, a pair of standards carried by the sides of said tank, a humidifying wheel having an axle rotatably journalled in said standards and aligned with the axis of rotation of said fan, said wheel having a plurality of propeller shaped sectorial perforated vanes, said wheel being positioned for immersing said vanes in the water in said tank during rotation, the perforations on said vanes comprising substantially radially extending slots with flanged edges for distributing water dipped from said tank radially throughout the entire area of each vane for penetration by the air stream from said fan, the pitch of said vanes causing rotation of said Wheel by said air stream, said standards having their upper ends turned inwardly toward each other and downwardly, said upper ends being parallel and having aligned bearings for receiving said axle, the standards being flexible and the unbent portions forming bearing closures for retaining said axles therein.

JAMES F. ROE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 859,649 Fries July 9, 1907 2,013,270 Grady Sept. 3, 1935 2,288,981 Viebrock July 7, 1942 

